Episode 11 – In this conversation, Fr. Gallagher reflects on the ordinary quality of St. Therese’s holiness by reading from the testimony of those who knew her.  He answers the question, “Could St. Therese be considered a mystic?”

Here are some of the various texts Fr. Gallagher refers to in this episode:

The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Vol. I: 1877-1890 (Critical edition of the complete works of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux)

Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux, Vol. II

From the Witnesses of the ordinary trial – Witness one: Agnes de Jesus (Pauline Martin)

One of them said that it wasn’t difficult being holy when one had everything one could wish for as she did, and when one lived with one’s family and was pampered. I am obliged to say that this senior professed nun, who was not of very sound judgement, decided to leave the monastery and is now living out in the world. Another, during her last illness, said, “I wonder what our Mother Prioress could possibly write about Sister Thérèse of the Child Jesus. What can you say about someone who has been constantly cosseted and hasn’t acquired virtue at the cost of struggles and suffering like us? She is meek and good, but these things come naturally to her.” [LC 29-7] I heard these words through Sr Thérèse herself, who had heard them. The nun who pronounced them is now dead. On the other hand, that same nun, who was a Lay Nun, said on other occasions that Sister Thérèse of the Child [241v] Jesus was a saint

Father Timothy M. Gallagher, O.M.V., was ordained in 1979 as a member of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius.  Fr. Gallagher is featured on the EWTN series “Living the Discerning Life:  The Spiritual Teachings of St. Ignatius of Loyola”. For more information on how to obtain copies of Fr. Gallaghers’s various books and audio which are available for purchase, please visit  his  website:   frtimothygallagher.org

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